Nicole Kidman admitted she spent a year refusing to try dermaplaning because it sounded like shaving. When she finally did, she noticed that creams and serums spread across her face more easily. That is her entire statement - and it is more accurate than it sounds, but also more modest than the industry would like.

The difference from ordinary shaving is explained by dermocosmetic nurse Rachel Keys: the procedure removes not only the fine hairs on the face but also the dead cells on the surface. The result is a smoother texture, and across a smoother texture every product spreads evenly. So far, all correct.

But the next sentence is the one that is worth the whole story, and it is precisely the one usually skipped in the advertising: „It may make it slightly easier for products to make contact with the skin, but I would not say dermaplaning makes all active ingredients penetrate much deeper.” So - the product spreads better, it does not work better. Those are two different things, and the industry routinely turns them into one.

Who it is not for

People with sensitive skin, rosacea, dermatitis, inflammatory acne or a damaged skin barrier should avoid it entirely. For them the procedure increases redness and irritation - it removes exactly what such skin is short of.

The recommended frequency is once every three to four weeks, no more often. Immediately afterwards, avoid peels, retinoids and stronger acids for a few days, and return to a basic hydrating and calming routine. Daily SPF 50 is not advice but a condition - a freshly scraped surface goes into the sun less protected than usual.

There is also a whole list of technologies the industry offers as an alternative: liposomes that wrap active ingredients, low-mass molecules, cosmetic microneedles, recombinant enzymes that open passages between surface cells. Every one of them is sold with a promise of deeper penetration.

The conclusion is simpler and duller than any of those products: dermaplaning is good preparation, not a treatment. The skin looks smoother afterwards because it genuinely is smoother. If somebody promises you that your serum now works three times harder - they are selling a serum, not a procedure.